Hello, Lahasa Fy here, reporting from the Jubliee Wheel high above Bright Jewel, the home of the GalaxyFest currently taking place and lasting for the next two weeks, I might add. Since its start yesterday, myself and other reporters have been talking to those in attendance to find and bring you the stories from the scene, both good and bad. We have decided to compile these stories and submit them in small doses throughout the event, in a series entitled "Tales from GalaxyFest." This is the first installment.

The Tale of Lancer Torpoli

Lancer Torpoli is a nearly mature Pengauani who we first met outside the stadium curled in a ball and afraid to move. Poor Lancer is alone at the GalaxyFest. Originally, from Polus he was stolen as an egg from his parent's nest and hatched in a private ranch on a world whose name he does not know. His entire early life, he knew nothing but the untender care of keepers who beat him for any transgression, real or imagined, that might have made his owner angry. During one of his owner's frequent business trips, his keepers threw a party at the owner's estate. The following morning, with the staff incredibly intoxicated or otherwise unable to react, Lancer managed to escape his cage, and make his way to a starport.

Thinking his freedom was near, the naïve Pengauani did not realize that he had landed in the midst of a slaver's spaceport. Bird species are not typically favored by slavers for most tasks, but free product is hard to pass up. So, Lancer ended up in chains, bound for the Vectinia Sector. Lancer was sold there into the service of a sport hunter high on too many types of ryll and spice. The hunter released him, telling him to fly fast so he could show off his aim to his similarly inebriated colleagues. However, that hunter and his friends were not of sound mind enough to realize that Pengauani are flightless. While the hunter looked to the sky, Lancer scurried away into a dense forest and snuck away. Starving and cold, eventually he found his way to another spaceport. Fortunately, someone had hired a shuttle to take people from Vectinia to nearby Bright Jewel free of charge for some galactic wide event. Lancer boarded and hoped that maybe now his life might improve.

Arriving at the Festival with nearly nothing, Lancer's shuttle was among the first to reach the planet. He stood in awe of all of the sights and sounds, aware for the first time in his life of the meaning of happiness. His eyes happened upon a plushie, his heart lept in joy. A most wonderful plushie in the shape of a rainbow collored porg, but also with a single horn. Lancer could hug and hold this plushie in comfort through the terror filled nightmares of his sleep, the remembrances of all his past harms. However, without money, he did not know how to afford one. He then studied the games and the list of available prizes at the ticket redemption vendor. Now knowing that he could win tickets and then exchange them for things to sell, he knew he could manage to afford a plushie and maybe even a home of his own. He recalled tearing up slightly at the thought of finally having some modicum of safety.

Feeling like his fortune could turn at any moment, he immediately began collecting tickets. His early attempts at the games had gone well. However, there were limits on how many times he could play the games in one day. Without money of his own, he was unsure how he could afford to stay in Bright Jewel. He was worried someone might jail him for being homeless or some other calamity that had plagued his life might rear its head at any moment. He found ads for someone buying T3 droids. T3 droids were only 100 tickets! If he could get enough tickets for a T3 droid, he could sell it for enough to rent a room for the rest of the festival and he could get his plushie. He figured if he could redeem tickets for the droid early and achieve his goal, any tickets he obtained later he could trade or sell to make his future beyond just these two weeks something stable and fear-free.

He saw some fellow festival goers and asked to borrow some tickets. He explained that he was close to his goal, and just wanted to get to his tickets goal even faster. Sadly, the being Lancer approached because he thought was friendly, turned out to be a ruffian. The nefarious ne'er-do-well got Lancer talking and soon Lancer confided that he had 80 tickets already. The criminal, being almost twice Lancer's size and much savvier about the galaxy, threatened Lancer and bullied the young Pengauani into handing over all his hard-earned tickets.

Left alone once more, in despair, afraid, cowering and crying in a heap, the poor young soul was left with near nothing. His dreams once again a tattered ruin. The horrors of his past reached up from within. The fear he had kept at bay his entire life threatening to consume him once and for all, until another group of festival goers saw his pathetic huddled mass and took pity on young Lancer. These individuals were kind enough to spare some tickets. We are happy to report, that Lancer did indeed get his plushie. He currently has a roof over his head for the remainder of the Fest. Now, Lancer is making plans for his future filled with hope. However, with his immediate goal fulfilled, Lancer is spending the rest of his time at the Festival paying back the kind souls that saved his dream. Now, being a bit wiser about who he can trust however, Lancer is adeptly avoiding the bullying cowards who stole his initial tickets.